Mr. Treetops: Local icon Boughner to retire after 46 years on the hill

October 10, 2008|By Jeremy Speer • Sports Editor

GAYLORD — Delbert Boughner stood on the ski hill at Treetops, overlooking restaurants, hotels and buildings at the now world-famous resort.

“When I started, none of this was here,” he said, with a laugh.

Boughner, 62, outdates almost everything at Treetops, save for the ski hill and a couple of chalets at its base.

Having worked there since he was 15, Boughner has seen Treetops transform to a mom and pop ski operation to one of the Midwest’s premier golf and ski resorts.

And after 46 years on the job, Boughner is finally retiring from the golf and ski operation he has come to know and love. Boughner, the deepest local link between the past and present of Treetops, has had a lifelong connection with the resort. He was born and raised just a couple of miles away, in Sparr, and secured a job at what was then called Sylvan Knob, owned by Lynn and Ruth Mead.

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He began working on the ski hill, which was just a remnant of what it is now.

“There was no grooming, they just packed the slopes,” Boughner said. “There weren’t many kids out here, either. It was mostly an adult thing.”

During its early days, there was much wilderness in the current Treetops area. And when the snow came hard, Boughner occasionally walked or drove a snowmobile to work.

“I was never late to work,” Boughner said. “I was always here, right on time.”

He became the ski lift operator and technician, and was part of the resort’s biggest change in the 1980s. It was then when businessman Harry Melling purchased Sylvan Knob from the Mead family.

Melling had some grand plans, but Boughner was to be a part of them. It was written in stone.

“When he bought this place, he bought me too,” Boughner said. “I was written in as part of the deal.”

Boughner, the ever-present handy man, aided in the swift construction that took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In addition to working as the ski life operator, he also began mowing lawns on the Jones Masterpiece golf course, the first to open at Treetops.

He also saw another ownership change, when Rick Smith and his managing partners purchased the resort. All in all, a number of general managers have come and gone, but Boughner remained the constant. The friendly guy with the big, red beard has become somewhat of an icon in the Treetops skiing circle.

“I’ve met a lot of friends over time,” Boughner said.

When he started working, Boughner said the resort had a staff about 10. Now, Treetops is one of Gaylord’s biggest employers with about 300 on the payroll.

After he is honored with a retirement dinner, Boughner still plans on returning to Treetops. He has developed an affinity for skiing over time, and has a “lifetime pass,” according to management.

He’ll take more time to be in the outdoors, hunting and fishing at his family’s cabin in Canada. He’ll continue to live in Sparr, just a few miles from the resort. It is a place that has become intertwined in Boughner’s life — one he will never be far from.